Chilled Meeting
by Durbe the Barian
Summary: Ichigo is about to learn the hard way that randomly walking in on a kid practicing swordsmanship will only get you trouble. Especially if that kid happens to be the still recovering Captain of Squad Ten.


Bleach

Chilled Meeting

Friendship/Humor

Toshiro, Ichigo

Ichigo is about to learn the hard way that randomly walking in on a kid practicing swordsmanship will only get you trouble. Especially if that kid happens to be the still recovering Captain of Squad Ten.

(Don't own Bleach.)

* * *

Chilled Meeting

* * *

The sound of wooden blades striking each other was the first thing that prompted Ichigo to go see what in the Soul Society was going on in the Tenth Squad of the Gotei 13. "Looks like Hitsugaya Taicho is getting his strength back," was the second thing that made him want to see what was up.

Hitsugaya.

If anything, Ichigo had wondered about the Captain ever since he received the report about Aizen via Tenteikura. When he was resting up in the hospital, he had heard several Squad 4 members speaking of the youngest Captain in the Soul Society rather worriedly. Some were wondering if he'd truly be able to recover, while others were voicing concern for his wounds. Apparently, he was a hothead and was often found outside his hospital room, just trying to walk around so soon after barely surviving an attack from Aizen.

Crazy.

That was the word that came to Ichigo's mind whenever he heard of the Captain.

Crazy. But he wanted to see for himself who the young Captain was that had garnered so much respect from those who brought his name into a conversation – unless they were Renji.

The sounds of practice only got louder as Ichigo entered the Squad Ten practice room.

There, he saw a Squad member with black hair and a stubble was fighting against a young boy with white hair and a green sash tied around his shoulders. Determination was on both of their faces, while at the same time, growing more and more on the child's face.

Determination.

Determination and pain.

Ichigo could tell that the boy was injured. Probably still in recovery, if he were to usher a guess.

Fighting off the ache that formed on his right side, the boy slid back on his feet, preparing himself as he lunged forward again, striking the black-haired man on the shoulder.

In that instant, the entire fight paused, with the boy panting heavily as he stood in his stance.

"Whoa," Ichigo breathed. "That kid's good..."

Just then, the boy stood straight, pressing his hand against his right shoulder in an effort to massage the rising pain. "Thank you for the sparring match," he said.

The black-haired man turned to face the boy with a smile. "You're very welcome, sir," he replied, the both of them giving a bow to one another; a sign that the fight had ended.

"Captain Hitsugaya is getting better," said one of the watching Squad members.

"Yeah," another replied. "That's a relief."

Ichigo grinned.

Then he walked into the room the rest of the way, taking his sandals as he did so. "Hey," he said, raising his hand for them all to see, "I was wondering if Captain Hitsugaya would be willing to spar with me."

All eyes were on the Substitute Soul Reaper.

Including those belonging to the two Soul Reapers who were sparring initially.

"And you are?" asked the white haired one.

"Ichigo Kurosaki, Substitute Soul Reaper," was Ichigo's immediate answer.

"The Ryoka!?" one of the members exclaimed.

"Ah," the white haired boy breathed. "You're the one that battled Zaraki."

Ichigo rubbed the back of his head, almost as if in embarrassment.

The white haired boy then let out a tiny – almost confident – chuckle. "Very well," he said. "You can spar."

"Ah, great," Ichigo said happily. "So," he held his hand out to the young boy; "can I borrow that wooden sword for a minute? I don't wanna use Zangetsu in a sparring match."

The entire Squad froze over in an instant.

The boy's eyes were wide in surprise. "What?" he asked, almost choking on his words.

"Um...," went the dark-haired man uneasily, "excuse me, but you can't expect the Captain to spar without a wooden sword."

"Huh?" went Ichigo, looking up to the dark-haired man. "You mean you're not the Captain?"

The white haired boy almost fell forward in horror, shoulders tense the whole time.

"No," the dark-haired man replied. "I'm Kakichiro Takezoe. Squad Ten, 7th Seat." He held his hands towards the white haired boy beside him. "This is the Captain of Squad Ten, Toshiro Hitsugaya."

At that point, Ichigo naturally felt incredibly embarrassed.

Not half as much as Toshiro, however, who was trying his best to hold off on screaming in frustration.

Then Ichigo just had to say the one thing that risked freezing the entire barracks.

"This kid?"

"That's **Hitsugaya Taicho** to you!"

* * *

After cleaning up the light amount of frost that rose from his outburst, as well as getting it through Ichigo's surprisingly thick head that the child – ahem, **boy** – was the Captain of Squad Ten, their sparring match was allowed to begin. But naturally, Toshiro was not about to let Ichigo's 'kid' comment go unpunished. So when the fight first began, Toshiro swung his wooden sword so hard, Ichigo was fortunate enough to hold his own weapon firmly in his hands. The shock numbed them a little bit, but he was able too keep his hold. "That's a lot of strength coming from a little kid," he couldn't help but quip.

"This kid is asking for it," the Squad members mumbled amongst themselves.

"Uh huh."

Toshiro's Spiritual Pressure rose a little bit, something Ichigo noticed as a chill creeped up his back. Then, in the time it took Ichigo to blink, Toshiro vanished from his sights, appearing above his left shoulder in a flash.

Quickly, Ichigo looked over his shoulder, eyes wide as he prepared to block the white haired boy's sword. Regrettably, that failed. Seconds later, Ichigo's wooden sword had gone through the wall, while Toshiro's own weapon was held before Ichigo's neck.

Ichigo could only stare.

"Don't underestimate your opponents, Ichigo Kurosaki," Toshiro said. "It's a fatal flaw in the eyes of a Soul Reaper."

"Uh," went Ichigo. "S-Sure. Got it-"

He paused.

Toshiro's right arm was shaking, though the Captain was clearly trying his best to hide it. From his men, if anything else.

"Toshiro," Ichigo breathed.

Toshiro's eyes narrowed. Then he whacked Ichigo over the head with his wooden sword, though not as hard as he could have if he possessed the want. "That's enough sparring for today," he said, walking to the walls and placing his wooden sword on a rack. "Thank you for your time, Ichigo Kurosaki."

"Uh...don't sweat it," was the only response Ichigo could make.

A low chuckle nearly escaped Toshiro as he walked out of the sparring room, his hand on his shoulder yet again.

* * *

"Shouldn't you be heading back to Squad Four?"

That was the question that made Toshiro turn around from his resting place at the garden of Squad Ten.

Just his luck. It was Ichigo.

"Why should it matter to you?" he asked, rubbing his shoulder with a groan.

"Because you look hurt," Ichigo responded. "And I don't like seeing kids being hurt."

"I'm not a kid!" Toshiro snapped in an instant, his eyes on the Ryoka behind him.

"Yeah, yeah," Ichigo sighed, waving his hands in the air. "Say what you will, you'll still look like a kid to me."

Toshiro could only growl, something he smothered when Ichigo chose to get even more casual with him and sat down beside him. "Nice garden," he said, admiring the work that had been done. "Who fixed it up like this?"

Toshiro's answer was almost too immediate for him. "The previous Captain of Squad Ten."

"Huh?"

"Never mind. It's not that important anyway."

"Okay," Ichigo drawled.

After that attempt at conversation failed with the Icy Captain, Ichigo then cast him a sidelong glance.

Okay. Enough with being nice. This kid was hurting. He looked as if he was on fire, his hand gripping his shoulder all the tighter with each passing moment.

Before Toshiro was given the chance to even think, Ichigo grabbed the small Captain and carried him away, much like how he handled Karin during the Shrieker incident. ←[Big brother habits die ever so hard.]

"Eh!? Kurosaki! Let me go!" Toshiro shouted. "What do you think you're doing!?"

"Getting you to Squad Four," Ichigo said simply. "I kept hearing that you were injured and walking around before you were ready, and all you're doing is proving the nurses in Squad Four right."

"I don't need to be carried like a helpless child!" Toshiro shouted. "I am fully capable of walking on my own! Put me down!"

"Yeah, yeah," Ichigo sighed. "You can forget it. Just keep your mouth shut before I tell Unohana that you were playing outside without telling her."

There, Toshiro was more than a little red. From either anger or embarrassment, no one could say for certain.

As Ichigo carried the young Captain back to Squad Four in the most embarrassing way any Captain could think of, Toshiro had but one thought that raced through his mind.

Who the heck was this guy!? Captain Shiba's son!?

* * *

**D.T.B: Brotherly friendship. Ah... Anyway, reviews would be nice. :)**


End file.
